Audra-
I think we will have to agree to disagree regarding whether you should or should not mention things about your families.  

I'm in complete agreement that anyone might need the afternoon off for whatever reason, but what I'm interested in is how they deal with unexpected needs that usually families require.  One last thing here before I drop this topic, if as an interviewee I reveal non-inlegal information that may be inappropriate then I believe that its interviewee beware.  If you don't want it to be a consideration then don't reveal it.

 Also, when I mentioned that I asked about benefits during the interview, that didn't mean however that I bashed the interviewer over the head with wanting the information only that I will ask if I haven't been given this information at some earlier poirt.  [By the way, I have tried to research the "benefits" of organizations before I interviewed and I have never been successful in finding out exactly what they have and have had much more success in asking a few pointed questions such as "do you have an HMO? or Is sick time a set amount or earnedover time?" regarding benefits at the interview.]

Audra Oliver wrote:
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I would much prefer that candidates keep things that I am not supposed to consider in the hiring process out of their interview.  For instance rather than being specific, you might indicate that for personal reasons or perhaps  health reasons you foresee needing a chunk of time off. Explain that you understand this is important for your potential employer to know. If you are moving to be nearer family members, that's one thing.  If you are going to grill an employer on how much time they allow you to take off for family matters in an initial interview you will come across as someone less interested in what they can contribute to the organization and more interested in what they can get from it.
 
Many employers are up front about benefits and when they are I often feel it is premature.  To me it gets the interview rather off track of the position itself and my qualifications for it. Too, I am focused enough about the latter two points that I do not retain much of what they have to say about the benefits.  Benefit information is available outside the interview in most organizations. If it is important to a candidate (someone in this thread said that they didn't have time to waste waiting until the negotiations phase to discover them)  it is probably something the candidate should consider screening positions for this before making application to them.

If you want to know about the flexibility of hours, ask about the flexibility of hours. Don't elaborate as to why. Sometimes I need to deal with a service person, sometimes I need to take an animal to the vet. Perhaps I want an afternoon off for a dog show. You may need to take a child to the doctor. You may want to go to a school program.  I might need dialysis.
 
 
 
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